* SAC Capital Advisors gave employees a 46-page memo that is a detailed rebuttal to the U.S. government's allegations that Chief Executive Steven Cohen failed to take proper steps to prevent insider trading at his firm.

* Private investment funds, facing diminished returns in some other areas, have piled into the business of lending to struggling companies.

* Nonprofit community groups called worker centers are helping to unionize workplaces, but they have more freedom than unions, which are constrained by national labor laws.

* The landing gear of a Southwest Airlines jet collapsed after it landed at New York's La Guardia Airport, injuring more than 10 people onboard and temporarily closing one of the nation's busiest airports.

* The U.S. housing recovery has created opportunities for investors and helped growing families trade up to bigger homes. But one group that has been lagging behind the pack: first-time home buyers.

* The Heritage Foundation, long a stately think tank that sought to define conservative thinking for Republicans, now is often challenging the establishment GOP, making waves in the process.

* Panther Energy Trading was fined for alleged manipulative trading in commodity markets, in the commodities regulator's first use of new enforcement powers it got under the Dodd-Frank law.

* Detroit's municipal unions stepped up protests against proposals to slash worker benefits as part of the city's bankruptcy, but they face an uphill fight.

* A cadre of House conservatives is trying to force lawmakers to vote on cutting off funding for a controversial NSA program that collects information about phone calls made by millions of Americans.

* A federal judge temporarily blocked a new North Dakota state law banning nearly all abortions, saying it clearly violates constitutional protections to the procedure.

FT

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Monday some of its senior China-based executives appeared to have broken the law in a bribery scandal and that the company would reduce drug prices in the country by making changes to its operating model that would lower costs.

Spanish telecoms company Telefonica SA is in talks with KPN to buy its German business E-Plus in a deal worth over $6 billion to create the largest mobile operator in the country.

Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC reached an agreement to sell two-thirds of its stake in Yahoo! Inc back to the company for $29.11 per share on Monday. The activist hedge fund's remaining stake in the struggling internet portal is worth slightly more than $500 million at Monday's prices.

Shares in McDonald's Corp fell 3 percent in early trading on Monday after the fast-food chain reported disappointing second-quarter results and warned that sales for the rest of the year would be hampered by economic weakness.

Video subscription service Netflix Inc warned of a further rise in content costs as competitors bid for distribution rights to television and feature film programming, sending its shares tumbling by nearly 6 percent on Monday despite a higher-than-expected profit.

NYT

* A tactic devised by Goldman Sachs and other financial players that has inflated the price of aluminum - and ultimately cost consumers billions of dollars - is coming under federal scrutiny. Companies that shuffle large stores of commodities to benefit from higher prices are being asked to retain documents related to the practice.

* Age discrimination complaints filed with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have risen and a method for calculating age discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere remains elusive.

* Netflix Inc gained 630,000 subscribers in the United States in the spring, but its shares fell in after-hours trading as investors expected more revenue.

* Activist investor Daniel Loeb, whose campaign to change Yahoo Inc culminated in the appointment last year of Marissa Mayer as the company's chief executive, is resigning from the board.

* The median age of a Fox News viewer is over 65, which could be a cause for concern given that advertisers aim for the 25 to 54 age bracket.

* An inadequate minimum wage and the weak bargaining power of fast-food workers enable McDonald's Corp to pay less than a living wage.

* Lawyers for the former Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre tried to cast doubt on the witness, Gail Kreitman, over differences between statements made in 2009 and while on the stand.

* Three regulatory agencies set penalties on Panther Energy and its owner over a practice known as "spoofing" meant to manipulate markets.

Canada

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

* The federal government said it will defend its new royal succession law as the province of Quebec joins two Quebec professors who are mounting a constitutional challenge. The legal posturing, a harbinger of a potential constitutional spat, erupted as Prince William's wife, Kate, gave birth to a boy, now third in line to the British throne.

* The Canadian Broadcasting Corp has rejected an advertisement criticizing the influence of the Conservative government's budget bill over the public broadcaster.

* Developers are growing increasingly exasperated that they get little or no credit for huge contributions they make to everything from culture to parks to daycares in the Lower Mainland - contributions increasingly required by area cities.

* Canadian National Railway Co is moving full-speed ahead on transporting oil by rail - a key growth area of its business - despite safety concerns raised by the recent deadly rail crash in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.

NATIONAL POST

* Canadian aerospace firms benefit most from $22 billion worth of 'corporate welfare' handed out since 1961: report

* The charity at the centre of a political firestorm over Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's public-speaking fees this past spring has dropped its request for a refund.

* The Toronto District School Board may have to lay off up to 200 teachers and cut hours for another 50 because of a new retirement incentive agreed by the Ontario government during teacher contract talks this spring.

FINANCIAL POST

* The head of Canadian National Railway Co Claude Mongeau urged federal lawmakers to wait until the investigation is completed into the tragedy of Lac-Mégantic before they consider new regulations on the industry.

* The mining earnings season kicks into full gear this week, and investors and analysts are bracing themselves for a set of painful second-quarter results. Writedowns, project deferrals and plummeting profits will all be front-and-centre as the miners try to make sense of one of the most turbulent quarters they have faced in years.

* Intact Financial Corp became the first of what may become a long line of firms disclosing losses from recent floods in Calgary and Toronto and the Lac-Mégantic train disaster.

* Hydro-Québec is taking the Newfoundland entity that runs the Churchill Falls generating station to Quebec Superior Court to assert its right to buy "virtually all the power and energy produced" at the facility until 2041, it said Monday

China

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- The National Development and Reform Commission has approved the issuance of an 8.5 billion yuan ($1.38 billion)corporate bond by Hubei Provincial Communications Investment Co Ltd, which has by far the largest bond budget across the highway construction industry.

BEIJING NEWS

- Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council meeting last week that China would not permit economic growth to sink below 7 percent, the paper reported, without citing sources.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

- Preparations to liberalise China's insurance rates are nearly complete and should be implemented soon, unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation said.

CHINA DAILY

- Popular cellphone messaging app WeChat, run by China's largest internet company by market capitalisation Tencent Holdings, was offline for several hours on Monday. Tencent blamed a hardware breakdown.

- China is predicted to elbow past the U.S. this year to become the largest market for express deliveries, according to Ma Junsheng, director-general of the State Post Bureau of China, at an internal conference on 18 July, as express delivery volumes grew more than 50 percent year-on-year in each of the past 28 months.

SHANGHAI DAILY

- The Apple Store on Shanghai's Huaihai Road has stopped accepting online reservations for repairs to prevent repairmen from other cities without Apple Stores from monopolising the queue, but the result has been long lines and cranky customers.

PEOPLE'S DAILY

- Establishing more small community banks could benefit the real economy in China as misallocation of resources toward speculation has made capital more expensive for many small and medium-sized enterprises, the newspaper said in an editorial comment.

Fly On The Wall 7:00 AM Market Snapshot

ANALYST RESEARCH

Upgrades

Baker Hughes (BHI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at CowenBanco Bilbao (BBVA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBSClayton Williams (CWEI) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond JamesFIS (FIS) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit SuissePhilips (PHG) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorganTexas Instruments (TXN) upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at SunTrustTotal System (TSS) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse

Downgrades

AXIS Capital (AXS) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/MerrillAllegheny Technologies (ATI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at TopekaAnnie's (BNNY) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorganBank of Marin (BMRC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at DA DavidsonDeVry (DV) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan StanleyIntercontinental Hotels (IHG) downgraded to Neutral at Exane BNP ParibasIsis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper JaffrayMetroCorp (MCBI) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe BruyetteNash Finch (NAFC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at CantorNorthwest Bancshares (NWBI) downgraded to Market Perform at Keefe BruyettePNC Financial (PNC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sterne AgeeQuality Systems (QSII) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond JamesSally Beauty (SBH) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sterne AgeeTeradata (TDC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MizuhoTravelCenters (TA) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James

Initiations

Aetna (AET) initiated with a Buy at StifelBroadSoft (BSFT) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells FargoCoty (COTY) initiated with a Buy at BofA/MerrillCoty (COTY) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche BankCoty (COTY) initiated with a Market Perform at Wells FargoCoty (COTY) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorganCyrusOne (CONE) initiated with a Hold at KeyBancJones Group (JNY) initiated with an Equal Weight at StephensLam Research (LRCX) initiated with an Outperform at RBC CapitalNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with a Hold at JefferiesNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with a Neutral at BofA/MerrillNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with a Neutral at UBSNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with an Equal Weight at Morgan StanleyNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with an Outperform at RW BairdNoodles & Company (NDLS) initiated with an Overweight at Piper JaffrayOxford Industries (OXM) initiated with an Overweight at StephensPDC Energy (PDCE) coverage assumed with a Buy at CanaccordProsensa (RNA) initiated with a Buy at CitigroupProsensa (RNA) initiated with an Outperform at LeerinkResolute Energy (REN) initiated with a Neutral at Citigroup

Private investment funds, facing diminished returns in some other areas, have piled into the business of lending to struggling companies, part of a so-called shadow-lending system that operates under different rules than commercial banks. It comes as banks cut back on some types of business lending, the Wall Street Journal reports

The Defense Department offered to compromise with wireless carriers (TMUS, T, LEAP) in a fight over valuable spectrum now used for purposes like training pilots in the Pentagon's drone program. At issue is the government's first substantial auction of airwave rights in half a decade, the Wall Street Journal reports

Global consumer confidence rose in Q2 with more optimistic perceptions about jobs, personal finances and spending intentions in the U.S., China and Japan, according a quarterly survey by Nielsen, Reuters reports

OPEC, excluding Iran, made $982B from exporting oil in 2012, the most in 38 years of data, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. But it forecast that their sales will drop in 2013 and 2014, Bloomberg reports

Toyota Motor (TM) board member Mark Hogan, a former GM (GM) executive, said the automaker is underperforming in Brazil and Argentina and that his focus is on helping the company expand in Latin America, Bloomberg reports